Tuesday
7th Feb 2023
"We have to make the voice of workers heard and if there is a directive on their working conditions, it has to be in favour of the workers, not the platforms," said one of the leading MEPs of the report.
"We must do everything we can to be ready with this new system for the next European elections," MEP Sandro Gozi said after the committee vote.
Europe's response to Elon Musk's Starlink broadband internet system — currently used by Ukraine in its war against Russia — is to deliver its first services sometime next year.
Companies are increasingly using software to spy on employees working remotely, said Polish computer forensics analyst Maciej Broniarz. "The market for highly intrusive spyware is snowballing," Broniarz told MEPs.
EU Commission estimates suggest that between 1.7 and 4.1 million workers are currently misclassified as 'self-employed'.
The EU is trampling on its own values and peoples' rights to privacy and data-protection as it expands its collection of data in areas such as migration, the EU's data protection advisor tells Nikolaj Nielsen.
Japan and the Netherlands are set to agree to join the United States in restricting exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.
To avoid digital tribalism the EU needs a strategy to better engage with the Global South, including the emerging digital powers such as Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, and Senegal.
The EU and China have their differences but should reinvigorate their high-level digital dialogue and work together on building a better and more connected digital world.
The digital sphere is particularly complex with a diverse range of actors and stakeholders. Working closely with each other and other like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific, the EU and ASEAN can be voices of moderation.
A look at the history of the digital transformation taking place in Africa proves that the continent is certainly not backward. Africa has always been progressive and is currently in the midst of an exciting and disruptive digital revolution.
Forget "old-fashioned" deep fakes, the challenge to democracy posed by "fully-synthetic media" which can be created seemingly out of thin air is much greater.
Buzzwords like 'strategic' and 'autonomy' have long been heard among Brussels' policy-makers, think-tankers, and academics. However, the concept has only become a real priority recently, bringing the geopolitical role of the EU to the top of the agenda.
A showdown is likely among MEPs and governments over the EU Commission's proposal on Artificial Intelligence and fundamental rights. The legislation, likely to be agreed next year, will be key in fighting discrimination in the virtual and real world.
A metaverse gala event organised for the European Commission on Thursday (29 November) attracted a handful of confused ballon-like avatars. The gala was a part of €387,000 metaverse project, financed by the European Commission's foreign aid department.
Given the rapid pace of digitalisation, the EU has rushed to set and regulate digital standards. Many new initiatives are led by Margrethe Vestager, EU commissioner for competition, who says the focus must be on making technology work for people.
What's a credible dystopian nightmare for a leading writer on AI and Big Data? "It's going to be the size of a mosquito and it'll be an aerial drone".
The European Union has impressive digital ambitions and an equally-impressive array of initiatives, proposals, directives and regulations, all designed to make the bloc 'fit for the digital age'. But what do they all mean — and will they all work?
In a nutshell, we have more than 100 million young Europeans who are using an app that snoops on personal data, relays information to Beijing and has direct control over what users see in their feeds.
'National security' means different things to different people, lacking a strict, agreed definition. Therefore, any exemption for its sake is vague from the outset and open to abuse.
Rule of law questions are mounting against the EU's police agency Europol, following a recent expansion of powers amid data abuse scandals. Those powers include the processing and analysis of data of innocent people with no links to any crime.
Democracy in Europe is being undermined by alleged government-led spyware on citizens, journalists and politicians, says Dutch liberal MEP Sophie In't Veld, who is lead report writer for a European Parliament probe into the abuse.
The US recently dropped one of the biggest regulatory bombs in history, by blocking sales of advanced microchips to China. How should the EU react?
The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines was the first major attack on European maritime infrastructure. But while the EU Commission has a critical infrastructure directive in the works, it largely focuses on cybersecurity —not physical attacks.
The days of pilling up obsolete chargers in drawers and groping around to find the correct one are coming to an end. MEPs adopted new rules forcing all phone manufacturers to offer a common charging solution by autumn 2024.
Some have tried to justify Big Tech's meagre tax payments in EU states with heavier tax burdens by emphasising the fact that these companies create jobs and invest in next-generation technologies. However, their market dominance comes at a steep cost.
As more-and-more AI-operated tools surround us — think of package-delivery drones, self-driving lorries, cleaning robots — the EU executive set out a bill to alleviate the burden of proof for consumers.
The problem is many of the reasons Kyiv has so successfully fended off Russia's onslaught in cyberspace cannot simply be replicated anywhere else — not least due to international law.
Germany's data-retention law — aimed at combating major online crime — is not compatible with EU law, the European Court of Justice ruled.
The proposal for a so-called European Media Freedom Act announced on Friday by the European Commission is part of wider efforts to tackle the erosion of rule of law in EU states like Poland and Hungary.
With evermore connected devices on the market, new EU rules aim to minimise cybersecurity risks from innocuous household appliances and industrial operating systems — amid concern over the increasing number of cyberattacks and their cost for companies.
In the European Parliament hearing into espionage against Greek politicians and reporters, the spied-upon journalists recounted their experiences — but the non-answers provided by the Greek government official were embarrassing, confrontative, and institutionally vacant.
The Greek government has been accused of violating the rule of law, following a wiretapping scandal that has ensnared Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
